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Lawmaker: ATV regulation seen as freedom issue

With few exceptions, there isn't much in the way of legal punishment for riding all-terrain vehicles on Mississippi's public roads. It is technically illegal – the actual law says it is – but the statute provides no punishment.

With few exceptions, there isn't much in the way of legal punishment for riding all-terrain vehicles on Mississippi's public roads.

With few exceptions, there isn't much in the way of legal punishment for riding all-terrain vehicles on Mississippi's public roads.

It is technically illegal — the actual law says it is — but the statute provides no punishment for doing so. The only codified requirement is one that says any rider or operator under 16 years of age wear a helmet.

"If you catch one, you have to look for other statutes like the helmet requirement," said Lincoln County Sheriff Steve Rushing. Even then, there's no specified penalty.

Rushing said nuisance calls related to ATV use pick up this time of year, when longer days and warm weather allow for extended riding periods.

Such was the case Sunday night, when Jackson attorney Precious Martin was killed and his 10-year-old injured after Martin lost control of his four-wheeler in Ridgeland's Bridgewater subdivision. Martin was not wearing a helmet. It was unclear Monday if his son, who did not sustain head injuries, was. Officials said Martin's son would likely make a complete physical recovery.

State Rep. Robert Johnson, D-Natchez, has for several sessions filed legislation that would have strengthened existing law, including a fine for not wearing a helmet. The last attempt came in 2013. Each time, it has died either in the committee in which it originated or died in the corresponding Senate committee.

"We have tried to push as much safety-centric legislation as much as possible," said Johnson, who has chaired the House Transportation Committee since 2012.

Where the resistance enters is when opponents claim regulating ATV operation is another erosion of personal freedom, Johnson said, who likened fortifying the ATV law to a ban on texting and driving. A texting and driving bill was minutes from going to Gov. Phil Bryant's desk before political chicanery killed it last month.

"We've all been guilty of texting and driving, and that includes me," Johnson said. "And I want people to have as much freedom as we can, but sometimes there's instances where we need protection from ourselves, and I think the current ATV law is one."

Since 2005, 16 people have died, on average, each year from accidents involving ATVs in Mississippi, according to data from the State Department of Health and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Half of those were accidents happened on public roads.

A couple of those deaths happened in Lincoln County.

"Most people use common sense with them, but you've got certain groups that don't," Rushing said. "We get a lot of calls as far as them racing up and down the road or just being loud in general. They can be dangerous, especially if you don't know what you're doing, which is often the case with younger kids."

Most neighborhoods, including heavily populated ones like Ridgeland's Bridgewater, have covenants that forbid ATVs.

Officials with the real estate firm that manages and enforces Bridgewater's covenants did not return a message Monday.